1. Field
The disclosed method and system generally relates to an image forming apparatus. More particularly, the disclosed method and system relates to an image forming apparatus which is capable of efficiently adapting the apparatus to local requirements such as power of a commercial power source, languages, and so forth.
2. Description of the Related Arts
In order to meet a variety of local requirements varied by destination country, localization has been a technical issue for various image forming apparatuses such as a copying machine, a facsimile machine, a printer, and so on. Many techniques have been introduced accordingly for an image forming apparatus which, in particular, employs a heater in a fixing mechanism thereof since the heater requires an application of a relatively large amount of power.
For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. JPAP07-325494 (1995) describes a facsimile machine which includes a heater and a power control for controlling power to the heater. This power control detects a voltage of a commercial power source, which may vary from a 100-volt range to a 200-volt range, and adjusts a voltage to be applied to the heater in accordance with the value of the voltage of the commercial power source. However, this technique requires an additional hardware element for the power control which brings a problem of increasing a manufacturing cost.
Another example of techniques for the localization which is more widely used is to provide a special ROM (read only memory) to the image forming apparatuses. This special ROM includes a heater control program in accordance with an amount of voltage of a commercial power source. Therefore, this technique requires to provide a number of ROMs each having a different heater control program according to the destination country. This makes the handling of ROMs complex. In addition, it cannot be flexible at an event, for example, when a destination of an apparatus is changed.
The present invention provides an image forming apparatus which has an efficient localization system. In one embodiment, the image forming apparatus includes a heater, a first memory, destination country setting mechanism, and a heater control selection mechanism. The first memory stores a first lookup table which contains a plurality of countries each indicating a suitable heater control corresponding to a voltage of a commercial power source used therein. The destination country setting mechanism establishes a destination country. The heater control selection mechanism refers to the first lookup table stored in the first memory using the destination country established by the destination country setting mechanism to read a suitable heater control for the destination country, and controls a power supply to the heater based on the suitable heater control.
The suitable heater control contained in the first lookup table may be one of control procedures prepared for 100-volt and 200-volt commercial power sources.
The above-mentioned image forming apparatus may further includes a second memory a time-system selection mechanism. The second memory stores a second lookup table which contains a plurality of destination countries each indicating a preferred time system. The time-system selection mechanism refers to the second lookup table stored in the second memory using the destination country established by the destination country setting mechanism to read a preferred time system for the destination country, and controls time based on the preferred time system.
The preferred time system contained in the second lookup table may be one of control procedures prepared for 12-hour and 12-hour time systems.
The above-mentioned image forming apparatus may further includes a third memory and a language selection mechanism. The third memory stores a third lookup table which contains a plurality of destination countries each indicating at least one language. The language selection mechanism refers to the third lookup table stored in the third memory using the destination country established by the destination country setting mechanism to read a suitable language for the destination country, selects the suitable language, and performs a language control based on the selected language.
The present invention also provides a localization method of an image forming apparatus which has a heater. In one embodiment, the method includes the steps of storing, establishing, referring, and controlling. The storing step stores a first lookup table which contains a plurality of countries each indicating a suitable heater control corresponding to a voltage of a commercial power source used therein. The establishing step establishes a destination country. The referring step refers to the first lookup table using the destination country established in the establishing step to read a suitable heater control for the destination country. The controlling step controls a power supply to the heater based on the suitable heater control.